Tonsillectomy Recovery Time
After a lifetime of tonsillitis, it was time. I made the appointment. Was I scared? Yes. Was I prepared for tonsillectomy recovery? NO. Can you be? YES!
Planning for and recovering from a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy procedure, (often referred to as T & A Surgery), can be daunting experiences. The days leading up to your surgery can be frightening. If you haven’t read up yet, you can find information on tonsillectomy methods, risks, costs, adult tonsillectomy, sleep apnea, and numerous tips for tonsillectomy recovery on the other pages of this site. I’ve even added pictures of a post tonsillectomy throat by each day. Study, talk with your doctor and consult with your friends about the decision to undergo tonsillectomy and adenoid surgery. Explore the pages created here to aid in your journey.
If you should decide to have tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, let us help you through the entire process. Whether due to problems with sleep apnea, chronic tonsillitis and strep throat, tonsil stones, trouble swallowing, or a combination thereof, you can benefit from the experience of others. My own experience taught me that, as patients, we need to advocate for ourselves. Ear, nose, and throat doctors are, by and large, extremely talented individuals. However, very few of them have experienced an adult tonsillectomy, and the subsequent recovery. I have. Many others have too. We share our experiences here at the adult tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy recovery resource center. As you’ll read in the tonsillectomy recovery forum, everyone’s experience is unique. There are many factors that influence the level of pain you experience, as well as the length of time required during recovery. The method, and skill of your surgeon can have an affect, but there are also many things within your control that will reduce pain and recovery time. I’ve tried to include as many helpful tips as possible within the pages of this online resource. Tonsillectomy recovery can be pretty rough, especially if you are unlucky enough to be an adult! It takes longer for an adult to recover from most things. Tonsillectomy is no exception. There are many things you can do to make it go more smoothly. I’ve published numerous tips here on various pages. I encourage you to read up BEFORE you are in the throws of tonsillectomy recovery.
Talk with your doctor, friends, family, and work as you prepare. You are not alone in this. Like you and like me, many others are facing or have faced a tonsillectomy recovery. I created this forum for you. The community of adults or parents of patients will amaze you and warm your heart. I read these comments every day and every day I am humbled by everyone’s story and their compassion for others in the midst of recovery, or the anxiety that often precedes a tonsillectomy. Please join in. Hundreds of other people, perhaps in your same situation, have shared their wisdom, concerns, tips, and questions about tonsillectomy, as well as their tonsillectomy recovery.
-Greg My short bio
Hi everyone,
I am on day four post op from a robotic-assisted transoral sublingual tonsillectomy, with some of the base of the tongue reshaped. I had my upper tonsils out in February and was still having problems, so the ENT referred me to a larger city a couple of hours away. The lower tonsils had to come out due to having tonsil stones in them, and their inherent large nature. During surgery, it was discovered that I also had extra tongue tissue. So, the extra tissue was taken.
My epiglottis is swollen so I am under the care of the surgeon and swallowing disorders center for the next few weeks. Lots of pain meds, swallowing and positioning techniques, and steroids are helping. Some aspects of recovery are a bit familiar from February (cardboard taste and pain levels), and other aspects are different. So I am doing what I can and following doctors’ orders. Fortunately I have time off from work, a good external support system, and lots of shows in the Netflix cue :o)
Even with the current complication, I feel a difference. And it will only get better as healing progresses. This should be my last throat surgery. I must say that robotic surgery is a bit nifty in concept.
I wish everyone a speedy recovery..
Kelly
Hi Kelly, I also had a robotic lingual tonsillectomy on Sept 5 so maybe 1 day before you? How are you doing now? I’m on day 19 and my throat and ear still hurts. I haven’t been taking much pain medication lately because I feel no different afterwards. When I eat it feels like something is stuck in my throat. I’m still not sleeping much. My throat feels worse at night. Still sleeping upright since the one time I tried the bed my throat felt so dry and terrible. I was prescribed a fentanyl patch and liquid lortab for the pain but after a few days I felt like I was overdosing and took the patch off. I knew this surgery would be painful but I guess I was hoping that I would be one of the lucky ones. I was telling my husband I’d rather have 5 more c sections then go through this again! I had a check up on day 14 and he doc scoped me and said everything looked normal and that I would probably be in pain for a couple more weeks! For some reason I was under the impression that I would be better by day 19. Don’t know why I thought that.
thanks ill call my doctor and see if i can get something for my cold. ive been sneezing a lot also its painful i hope everyone feels better
Laura- thanks hun 🙂 good luck, its really not as bad as everyone makes out! Cheeseburger afterwards always does the trick! Toast was ok when it went soggy haha crisps i had wotsits and skips which are softer 🙂 tbh im going out and about now so its not all bad just akward to each so fingers crossed you can do your course 🙂 x
Staace – loved this post. It’s very true about manning up! You nailed it. (high fives) 🙂
Laura- i am on day 8 and its got worst not better, so if your recovered by day 10 you will be a very lucky lady!
My advice is drink water; buckets loads, ive never drunk so much. The idea is to keep your throat moist and wet, inbetween drinkin water chew gum it helps the pain and saliva too. Also best thing to do is get back to eating normal foods so your throat gets used to what you normally do, pussying around on soft and cold foods only prolongs the healing process, i had a mcdonalds after i was admitted lol its more painful to eat normal foods now on day 8 but im still forcing myself. Just dont whatever you do pick off the scabs yourseld let them fall off on their own.
Hope this is of some help! And good luck, its really not as bad as some people make out. You just gotta man up and be strong lol x
Hi Staace,
Sorry to hear you’re still suffering, although from the other accounts I’ve read…that’s the norm at this stage!
Thanks so much for your advice…it seems the British hospitals adopt the “get back to normal” approach and even advise eating scratchy toast straight after surgery, whereas American doctors tend to lean towards the “Jell-o” and soft food method. If you think it will speed up the process to eat normally, I’ll give that a go (although I might avoid crisps for a bit haha!)
I don’t think any amount of pain could keep me from a McDonald’s so I might follow your lead on that one!
Hope you’re fighting fit again in no time.
Laura x